One of the best Enchantments in Magic: The Gathering’s Bloomburrow set has seen a huge price spike, as it is part of a deadly new combo that makes use of MTG’s dreaded Poison mechanic.
Bloomburrow has been a huge success for MTG, building hype ever since its earliest reveals, and drawing both new and lapsed players into the game with its incredible world design and clever mechanics.
While Bloomburrow plays host to a variety of powerful and adorable Creature cards, there are plenty of other sought-after spells in the set too, including its Class Enchantments.
Innkeeper’s Talent is a Class card that many players have been keeping an eye on from the moment it was revealed. Its value was always likely to rise, as it is among the very best Enchantments available in the whole Bloomburrow set.
+1/+1 counters are a tried-and-true strategy for Magic: The Gathering players to rely on. Powerful new +1/+1 counters support is added to the game all the time, with Innkeeper’s Talent being a particularly good, versatile new addition to the deck type.
From a starting price of just $1.50 during Bloomburrow’s pre-release, Innkeeper’s Talent has quickly shot up to a market price of $15.42 at TCGPlayer.
Innkeeper’s Talent would have been likely to spike in price on its own, solely down to its use in a variety of green decks and +1/+1 strategies. However, a significant contributing factor to this card’s booming value is its use in an insta-kill Golgari combo.
Innkeeper’s Talent’s first two abilities are useful for power boosts and protection in the early stages of the game, but it’s the class’s third and final tier that makes it worth getting ahold of.
With Innkeeper’s talent on the field and its level 3 ability unlocked, MTG players can immediately take an opposing player out of the game by playing the card Vraska, Betrayal’s sting.
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While similar Enchantment effects like Branching Evolution double the number of counters you place on your Creatures, what sets Innkeeper’s Talent apart is that it doubles the counters you place on any permanent or player.
As a result, Innkeeper’s Talent will double your buffing capabilities and will allow for interaction with players and Planeswalkers, allowing it to overhaul the killer Vraska combo that originally used Phyrexia: All Will Be One and Kaldheim cards.
Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting will usually enter the battlefield with 6 loyalty counters, but Innkeeper’s Talent ticks this total up to 12. As a result, Vraska’s final ability can be activated on the same turn it is cast, removing the only downside of this hugely powerful planeswalker.
Vraska’s final ability brings the opponent’s total number of Poison counters up to 9, regardless of their previous total, putting them a single counter away from death. However, Innkeeper’s Talent doubles the number of Poison counters handed out by this ability too, making it immediately lethal.
MTG players will be familiar with this overwhelmingly punishing combo, as it originally made use of Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider in place of Innkeeper’s Talent. Vorinclex shares Innkeeper’s Talent’s counter-doubling ability while packing an additional counter-restricting ability that locks down opponents’ plays.
However, Kaldheim rotated out of Standard a few short months after Phyrexia: All Will Be One debuted, taking Vorincles with it. While this combo has enjoyed popularity in Commandervever since MTG players will be both pleased and horrified to see it make a glorious return to Standard.
So, while Innkeeper’s talent may have an adorable design that perfectly befits Bloomburrow’s more pastoral elements, MTG players in Standard, Commander, and more will soon learn to fear seeing this charming, hospitable mole at the other side of the table.